Marauders at Midnight
by J. K. Meowling
Summary: A fanfic I wrote about how Remus survives his torturous teen years, including his relationships with Lily, Snape, Tonks, Sirius, Peter, James and even Rita Skeeter!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Remus blinked groggily. Last night was awful. It was a good thing it had been on a Saturday night, because it was one of the worst incidents in a while. After barely making it into bed, he had nightmares about James and Sirius deserting him, dreams about his dead mother, and dreams about eating Lily Evans. That last one had been particularly scary, seeing his mate's girl in a puddle of blood. He tousled his sandy brown hair, rubbing his face.

"Hey, mate! You're awake!" James called.

"Hmm? Oh, hey James. Where's Sirius?" Remus asked, as he climbed out of bed and into a fresh change of clothes. "He's right over there, how could you have missed him?" James teased, pointing to the drawn curtains of a red, four-poster bed. A deep snore rumbled from within.

Of course. Sirius never got up before—Remus glanced at his alarm clock. 10:30? That was awfully late. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Remus asked, glancing at James, who had somehow put his 'Gryffindor' sweater on backwards.

"I—mmph—had Quidditch practice at 7:00, and you were sleeping really soundly. I—rrgh—didn't want to wake you up after what happened last night," he replied, struggling to fix his jumper.

Oh. Remus tried to clear his mind of the terrible dreams as he pulled on a pair of jeans, his 'I Support Centaurs' t-shirt, and his favorite pair of red and gold Converse.

"What say we go get a late breakfast?" Remus asked. "Sure," replied James happily. "Should we wake Padfoot?"

Remus took one last glance at Sirius's snoring form before replying,"Nah." Together, he and James strolled out of the boy's dormitory, out of the common room and down the hall to breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2: Making Plans

"Remus! James! Why in Hogsmeade didn't you wake me up? I can't believe I missed breakfast!" Sirius exploded as he ran into the Great Hall, where Remus and James were just finishing up their brunch. Those had to be the only things Sirius Black ever did—eat and sleep.

Sirius sat down and ran his hands through his messy black hair. 'For the ladies', he always said.

"You looked tired," James smirked, his grey eyes glinting behind his glasses.

"What do you expect? Last night was rough," he replied, with a sideways look at Remus, who was staring at his eggs. "Sorry, mate."

"So what are our plans for today?" James asked, once Sirius had been seated and helped himself to a huge lunch. "We could go down to the lake, or go stalk Snape, or go to the Room of Requirement, or go taunt Snape, or go hex Snape, or…" he trailed off.

"Or go stare at Lily Evans," Sirius muttered through his roast beef sandwich.

"Shut up!" James shrieked, reaching over to hit Sirius across the head. Remus watched, laughing solemnly.

"What's wrong? Still tied up over last night?" Sirius asked, seeing Remus staring vacantly out the huge east window.

"Yeah. It was…a rough night," Remus whispered.

"Mm."

"I know! Let's go see if we can set another dungbomb in Slughorn's office!"James shouted merrily.

"Yes! I've been wanting to get him back after that homework he gave back about 'Hexes Through the Ages' that I apparently failed," Sirius said with glee as the three boys stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Sirius, you were doing it moments before he collected it. I remember, you were using a Quick-Quotes Quill that you took from that Rita Skeeter girl," James responded pointedly.

"What? I thought it was a factual report!" Sirius had a great memory, but he was no good at writing essays and even worse at even doing homework.

The two raven-haired boys argued the whole way out the Great Hall back to the dormitory. Remus crept behind, his pain gone and a smile creeping over his face.


	3. Chapter 3: Dammit, Peter!

"Here we are!" James pulled his head and arms out of his trunk with his last Dungbomb.

"Excellent," Sirius whispered. "Let's go! Get the map, Remus."

Remus raised his wand and pulled the map out of his trunk. A special map. He and Peter had enchanted it themselves. Whenever anyone except the boys—or fellow troublemakers—picked it up and tried to open it, it would form insults on the cover. They had gone particularly crazy on insults for Snape—the satisfaction dimmed when they knew he would never find it. But writing the insults had been fun.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Remus breathed on the map. It opened in his hands, unfolding like a flower. Slughorn was in his office.

"Perfect! Let's go!" Sirius shouted with glee.

The three students raced out of the dormitory. They were halfway to the dungeon when they bumped into another Gryffindor.

"Hello James, Sirius, Remus!" the third year shouted with glee. They had run into Peter Pettigrew. "Where are you off to? Off to cause some more mischief? Can I come along?" he rambled off.

"You? Come along with—oof!" Sirius began incredulously, stopping after an elbow to the ribs from James.

"Come on, he's our biggest fan! You know he's going to tell on us if we don't," James whispered. Peter looked from face to face. "Please?" he whined.

"Fine," Sirius huffed, beaten.

"Yes! Where are we going? What are we doing?" Peter piped.

"Off to Slughorn's office. We've got a Dungbomb," Remus explained wearily as James and Sirius argued behind. Peter smiled with excitement. His eyes gleamed with mischief.

The Marauders, as Peter had dubbed them, raced down the corridors and flights of stairs, the Dungbomb bouncing in James' pocket, the map hidden securely under Remus' t-shirt.

Finally they reached Professor Slughorn's office in the dungeons. They crowded behind a statue, peering at the map.

"There! He's behind that stack of books!" Peter said. "I'll do it!" Peter grabbed the Dumgbomb out of James' pocket and raced into the room.

"Wait!" James shrieked," I didn't pull the pin yet!"

They ran into the room to find Peter wrestling with the pin on the Dungbomb. Slughorn was in his office. He could come out at any second and they would all get detention.

"Peter!" James hissed. "What are you doing?" He tried to wrestle the Dungbomb from Peter, but in the mess the pin had been pulled. A large green cloud of smoke exploded in Peter and James' hands. A foul smell, the combination of rotten eggs, spoiled milk and vomit filled the room. The boys' eyes watered as they coughed and waved away the smoke.

As they stood up, trying in vain to wipe away the smell from their clothes—which were covered in a thin, green, mucous-like film—Professor Slughorn's office door opened.


	4. Chapter 4: Truth or Dare

"Troll shit!" James hissed. "Run!"

The boys ran, the mucous sliding down their clothes and dripping from their hair. Hey could hear Slughorn's response echoing down the hall. "Who put this piece of filth in my room? Who?" he roared.

"Dammit—Peter—why—didn't—you—wait?" Sirius gasped as they raced up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. "Remus—still—got—the map?"

"Yeah," Remus breathed heavily, pulling it out. "Looks like the hallway's clear."

"As soon as we get back to the common room, I'm going to use the Body-Binder curse on you, Peter, and lock you in Snape's laundry!" James growled.

Peter looked frightened. Before they could say another spell, he had disappeared around a corner.

"Why did you scare him like that, James?" Remus asked quietly, as Peter's heart-wrenching sobs bounced off the chamber.

"I didn't mean to…I guess I was just pissed that he ran in there like that," he replied just as softly.

"Come on guys; don't get all soft on me. Besides, you know he'll come back in a few hours. Let's go sit by the lake," Sirius urged. Feeling a bit guilty, they trudged outside to sit in the sunshine.

Later, after becoming bored, they decided to play Truth or Dare. After Sirius vomited when dared to lick a Toad-Tongue tree, they decided to stop the dares and just go with truths.

"Hmm…name at least one girl that you have a crush on right now that goes to our school, is in our year, and is still alive," Sirius prompted.

"Ok, but you have to do it too," Remus argued. Sirius shrugged. "S'ok, we all already know who Jams likes," he said.

"Fine. Lily Evans," James huffed.

"Bridgette Collins, Harper Dallas, and I used to like that Slytherin—Narcissa—and then she Bat-Bogey Hexed me and locked me in that bathroom stall. Ya know, the one with the spider breeding station in the corner?" Sirius revealed. "Go nuts, Moony."

Hmm… I never really considered it, he thought. He gazed around the courtyard. Rasha Patil…Molly Prewett…ugh, Snape…Nymphadora…her. Nymphadora Tonks. He gazed as Rasha tossed her a football. Tonks jumped to get it, sliding in a mud puddle, her sweater ultimately ruined. He was in love.

"Come on, mate. Spill the beans!" Sirius shouted.

"Tonks."

"Nymphadora?" James finished. "The Hufflepuff?"

"Maybe…"

The boys sat, watching the girls play football. Tonks had taken off her sweater and was wearing a very flattering white tank top underneath it. Eventually she and Rasha ran inside after they had splashed mud on Molly's skirt and the prefect had told them off.

"Let's follow them," Sirius suddenly whispered.

"What? Nuh-uh. Not one of your 'girl-scouting' adventures. No way," Remus said.

"Hey, come on! It's a good idea!" James said, his eyes gleaming. "You DO want to actually meet Tonks, right?"

Remus was silent. Clearly, they were going to go stalk Nymphadora Tonks.


	5. Chapter 5: Want to Go Out?

**AN: HALLO POTTERHEADS! Anyways, this story is going pretty good, I was afraid if I left it too long I would abandon it. I'm writing another story about a girl who finds an old magic book but I haven't finished the synopsis yet and I hate writing without a clear ending in mind. Also my friend Arcicmist (go check her out!) and I are planning on possibly co-writing a Hunger Games fanfic but I am not definite about that. So now I'm going to turn over the leadership to the boys! Bye!**

The boys stood up and walked back inside as the dinner bell rang.

"I can't believe this," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Seriously? After all this, you finally stopped believing in Sirius' crazy plans?" James said, incredulously.

"I was joking, boggart-brains."

"It doesn't matter," Sirius declared, coming up behind them and putting an arm around each of their shoulders. "We're going to find her and see if she's worth it."

Remus groaned.

"Let's at least get something to eat. Then we'll go see about this Tonks girl," James finalized.

They sat down and piles their plates high with chicken, spaghetti and sauces, then wolfed it all down.

"Hey! There she is!" Sirius exclaimed, turning around.

"Shut up!" Remus shushed, knocking Sirius upside the head.

"Screw it, he's going in," James whispered, pulling Remus aside.

"Hey! Tonks!" Sirius yelled as the Hufflepuff stood up to go find her Ravenclaw friend, Rasha Patil.

"Hm? Oh. Sirius. What do you want?" Tonks huffed, looking irritated.

"Remus?" Sirius turned and looked at him.

"Um—uh—well—"Remus stammered, turning red.

"Well? I don't have time for this. I need to find Lily and Rasha," Tonks demanded.

James nudged him.

"Would you like to come with me on our trip to Hogsmeade next week?" Remus blurted out.

Tonks looked surprised. She turned bright red; her hair stood on end and turned bright red, instead of her usual shoulder-length pink. Her normally blue eyes blazed orange, and she replied," Sure." Her features returned to normal as she turned away and walked to find her friends.

"There ya go. Told you it would be easy," Sirius said, elbowing Remus.  
>Hey Remus," James said, "Don't worry. I'm taking Lily to Hogsmeade too. We can go together."<p>

Silence.

"Remus?" James and Sirius said, turning. Remus was standing, blanched, mouth agape at the disappearing figure.

**Sorry about the short chapters, but I decided that this scene would be okay as a quick chapter. If you want longer chapters, just tell me. Tell me, it doesn't mean I will. Also I'm working on my revision of Rue's Journey. I just have to quickly re-read Hunger Games or look on the wiki or something but that will be up soon, I promise. KTHXBAI**


	6. Chapter 6: A Visit to Hogsmeade

**AN: Bonjour to everyone again! Things are finally heating up between Remus and Tonks! HOORAY! Yay! So, enjoy this update, because I'm in the middle of a huge project right not and it'll take me forever to finish so I'm alternating between…yeah, rant rant rant. HERE ENJOY NAO MINIONZ**

ONE WEEK LATER

Sirius, James, and a very nervous Remus were standing in the boy's dormitory, eyeing themselves in the mirrors. Sirius kept running his hands through his hair, trying to muss it perfectly; James kept wiping off his glasses and straightening his sweater vest; and Remus was just hoping he didn't look like too much of a fool as he tried to fix his hair and his wrinkled shirt.

James glanced at his watch. "Come on, guys. We're going to be late." He looked at Remus, who was still standing in front of the mirror.

"Moony, you look fine. Let's go before you actually pull your hair out," Sirius groaned. He grabbed Remus' wrist and propelled him down to the common room, where Professor McGonagall had just stepped through the portrait hole.

"All students visiting Hogsmeade are free to make their way down to the village now. You must be back by four o'clock sharp," she called, then moved aside as a wave of Gryffindors flowed past her and through the portrait hole.

"Come on, Remus. Let's go find our girls," James called, as he elbowed his way over to Lily, who was fortunately walking with Rasha and Tonks

Remus felt his throat go dry and his heart rate double. But he had no time to think it over—Sirius had just pushed him into Tonks.

"OW! Uh, hi, uh, Tonks," Remus murmured, brushing off his clothes.

"Hi Lupin," Tonks said, giggling. She looped her arm around his as they walked outside. Remus did the same and they strolled down to Hogsmeade. He looked ahead and saw Lily leaning into James' shoulder and laughing.

"So, where do you want to go first?" Remus asked, looking at Tonks.

"Definitely Honeydukes, then Zonko's, then…I dunno. Let's check out the Shrieking Shack! I hear it's haunted," she replied, her fingers crawling up his neck.

"Ah! Uh, yeah, we can do that," Remus said, rubbing down the hairs on the back of his neck. "Are you sure you want to go to the Shrieking Shack? It's not supposed to be very safe…"

"Of course I do!" Tonks cried, playfully swatting him on the arm. "Don't tell me you're too pygmy puff to go see it!"

"Of course not!" Remus said indignantly.

"Good, then we'll go there."

They reached the village and wormed their way into Honeydukes, which was packed full as usual. Between themselves, they bought two packs of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Droobles best Blowing Gum, and one of their newest creations, Ice Mice.

"Make's the eater's teeth chatter and squeak," Tonks read aloud as they walked to Zonko's. "Well, I'm up for it. Join me?" she asked, opening the package.

"I guess so," Remus said uneasily. He took a mouse and—"One, two, three!"—chomped it in two.

Instantly a chill dropped down into his stomach and back up his spine. He shivered—and didn't stop. He and Tonks stood on the corner laughing and chattering their teeth for ten minutes. _God, I love this, _Remus thought as he doubled over in another fit of laughter and squeaking.

When they had calmed down, they squeezed into Zonko's. Remus bought a sack of Dungbombs and a package of Sugar Quills; Tonks purchased some Hiccough Sweets and some more Sugar Quills. They left the crowded store sucking on Sugar Quills and Chocolate Frogs.

Tonks stopped and turned to Remus. "You ready?" she asked, a glint in her eye.

"Uh…okay. Let's go," he agreed. She took his hand and led him away from the crowded streets and off to the Shack.

They hid their bags behind a few trees and stood in front of the Shack.

"Okay..," Tonks said. "Let's…let's go." She looked at Remus, who was going a bit pale.

"Yep," he agreed. They took each other's hands and cautiously opened the front doors of the Shrieking Shack.

Tonks peered around the doors. "Nothing here," she noted aloud, walking into the foyer.

Remus followed her cautiously. He looked around. Bits of hair and claws were strewn across the floor, chairs and curtains were ripped to shreds. He hoped Nymphadora didn't notice it.

"This is so CREEPY! I love it!" Tonks cried, startling Remus.

"Ah! Oh, uh, yeah, me too, I guess. You want to go upstairs?" he asked, walking over to the sitting room.

"Sure!" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the steps. They walked down the hallway and peered into bedrooms. They all looked the same—torn up bed sheets, dusty tables, and claws and hair everywhere. Remus bit his lip when Tonks bent down to look under a bed. But he did notice that she had a sexy ass.

"Well, I don't see anything weird. That sucks. Oh well. Let's go," she sighed, walking back to the stairs.

"I bet if we came down at night we'd see more ghosts," Remus blurted out.

"Seriously?" Tonks cried.

"Yeah. James found a secret passage here last week," Remus explained. He glanced at his watch. "It's three-thirty. We should probably get going before McGonagall and Sprout skin our butts. Should we sneak out next week?" he asked.

" Sorry, I can't. I've got a ton of tests this week. How about the week after?" Tonks asked as they carefully walked down the smashed-in stairs.

_Shit. That's my transformation week. _"Um no, sorry, I can't. I—I've got a ton of tests too. Let's see—we'll work something out," he said.

"Oh, okay, Remus," Tonks said, looking a bit disappointed. Remus wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her softly on the cheek. "I'm sorry, Nymphadora. I promise I'll see what I can do."

Tonks sighed, then went up on her toes and kissed him back, blushing. "It's alright. We may be on a first name basis, Remus, but I am dead serious—don't call me Nymphadora. Not yet, anyways."

**AN: Aww! SO CUTEE! :D 3 O\_T_/O …does this look like a wolf or not?**


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